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Sue Holland -- March 2002 -- Walt Disney World (Offsite, OKWR)Who/When/Where:
INTRODUCTION: This is a very unusual trip, in the sense that it was not planned 11 months in advance, or even 7 months in advance. Normally my trips are planned about 2-3 years in advance, although they sometimes change a few times before being booked at the DVC 11 month window. However, in this case the trip was not planned at all until out of the blue one day I received an email from a stranger. A very nice DVC couple had 40 points that were due to expire, no way to use them, and were not interested in trying to rent them out. They suggested I use the points, provided I could do so before March 31st. The one disadvantage to planning trips as far in advance and as often as me is there is no room to add any extra weeks - while remaining employed <g>. However, weekends really eat up DVC points, and March 2nd & 3rd were available at OKWR, so my gracious hosts made my reservation. I know they are reading, so let me say again - THANK YOU - you have no idea how needed this weekend getaway is right now! Once that was done, I contacted Leesa to see if she had any interest in my coming up on Friday and taking her to the Comedy Warehouse for the night. LOL - any interest....she practically jumped through the phone line, typing YES YES YES <g>. This works out really well - I get to spend time with a friend, we both get an extra night of the Comedy Warehouse, and I have a nice short drive Saturday to check in to OKWR. I do enjoy the Warehouse when I go solo, but it is more fun to have another regular to share observations, gossip, etc. Kelly from the Ft Pierce family emailed me this week - they will be coming up for Friday & Saturday nights, so it will be fun seeing them again! Nancy ended up with a rare extra night off, so she will pick up Leesa and the three of us will have dinner on Saturday followed by some Comedy Warehouse shows. I will definitely be at the Warehouse each night, and hopefully will get over to Mara at AKL for some of their great soup. The weather looks a bit cool for water parks (again), and there is not anything I really have a strong interest in seeing in the parks, so I have not made any rigid plans to be anywhere particular at any time during the day. I think Space Mountain will still be down for rehab, and that was my main attraction in the MK. I would like to get back to see Gus again, and might try to fit lunch at Le Cellier in somewhere. Originally I was going to drive to work early Monday morning (only staying Sunday night in order to go to the Warehouse), but later decided to take the entire day off - life is too short <g> and work can wait a day! The plans (subject to change) so far... Fri 3/1: Work, pick up Leesa, Comedy Warehouse Sat 3/2: Check in OKWR, some park, dinner & Comedy Warehouse w/Nancy & Leesa Sun 3/3: MK, Comedy Warehouse Mon 3/4: AK, Epcot, drive home DAY 1 - FRIDAY, MARCH 1, 2002: Who: Sue (me - 43), DVC member Leesa (42), friend & Comedy Warehouse regular Plan: Work, pick up Leesa, Comedy Warehouse Actual: This morning I heard from my friends Tom & Leanne - turns out they will be arriving at OKWR later this weekend for one of their impromptu trips :-) This trip just keeps getting better & better, despite being way too short, lol! Running into people I know (or meet) from the internet is fun, but getting to spend time with friends here is an important reason for my frequent trips. Thank goodness Disney seems to have a never-ending supply of DVC points - too bad I do not have a never-ending supply of time & money! Work was.....well, it's why I need these vacations <g> I did find out there is a teleconference Monday at 3pm that I need to call in for - the time stinks since staying at WDW to do the call and then driving home puts me home later than I would like, yet leaving at noon to be home by 3 is not very appealing. So, I will most likely do the call from the car, on the way home, and will exit the highway if I need to concentrate on the call more than the driving. It was a cloudy, windy day in Ft Myers - my friend Kathy read me the local forecast for this weekend up here, and it sounded better than it had earlier but far from ideal. At least it will not be cold like a few days this past week! Anyway, I left work at 1pm, arriving at Leesa's by 4. We hung out at her place for a while looking at some older Comedy Warehouse pictures on her computer, and then drove to Animal Kingdom Lodge for a light dinner. It was *cold*!! Actually, later at PI when the wind died down it was not bad, but initially it was very chilly. We browsed in the gift shop and then went to Mara, where we were delighted to see it was not busy at all! The soup of the day was the pumpkin cheese I had tried last trip, so I got a bowl of that and Leesa got the African stew. She had gotten this item in Animal Kingdom and loved it, but found this was not the exact same item. Most of it got thrown away. My soup was delicious, but very filling. We shared a brownie, but between the 2 of us only ate less than half - it was pretty rich. While we ate Leesa recognized the different African music groups playing over the speakers, none of which I had ever heard of <g>. After dinner we walked out to the savannah and a group of giraffes were walking right by us, really close. The food truck was there, and they were hustling over to get some! They continued walking away, and we were getting too cold, so we went back to the car and drove to Pleasure Island. We stopped at Candy Cauldron so Leesa could buy cotton candy, then entered PI. As we stood back to watch the line we saw (Friday night regulars) Bob & Virginia doing the same thing - and teased them later when we all got in line <g>. We were joined by Dan, Sue, Kelly & Alan (Ft Pierce family), and enjoyed chatting with them. We were all seated in long row, and had fun talking and passing cotton candy around until the show started. Deb was our waitress, and we talked with her as well - we would be in her section all night. She had to take my Bye Bye Blues back because it tasted funny, & it turns out the barback forgot one of the ingredients. The 2nd version was perfect, though :-) Carol Stein was on the keys tonight, doing her usual good job. The 7:10 cast was Todd, Chris, Greg, Krista & Brian. They did a "Should Have Said" scene in a Krispy Kreme shop with Chris as the worker dealing with druggie customers Todd & Brian. They did Forgotten Songs next. Brian & Todd sang "Shake Your Shamrocks" in an Elvis style, and Greg did a folk song about being inside Hilary Clinton's brain - called "It's a Big Void After All". Chris & Krista were 2 women singing about the man of their dreams in a song called "25 Tattoos and a Dog Named Guinness". The songs were pretty funny. Finally, they did Up Your Alley with the topic of spatulas. Krista played Julia Child, Greg was a boy in the decoupage scouts, and Todd was a Dupont exec who opposed spatulas because the removed the Teflon off their pans. Brian hosted as Waldo Bitme (bit me). After the show we never made it outside before taking our seats for the next show. I talked to Todd, and found out the audition he had told me about last time had gone well, and he got the job. He will be working in a new Ghostbusters show at Universal, starting 10 days of rehearsals on Monday. He will still be appearing occasionally at the Comedy Warehouse, which I know will please Adie & Lisa <g>. While we were talking, Chris came over and joined in. She seems happy to be back full time after 9 years. She had been full time early on, but for the last 9 years was not. Greg stopped briefly to say hi, but there was not time to really talk to him, as the people were starting to be let in for the 2nd show. We took our seats in long row and were joined by Bob & Virginia. The 8:15 cast was Brian, Greg, Chris, Mary & Krista. Greg & Mary did a one act play about turning broccoli into chocolate (certainly the only way I would ever eat that vegetable <g>), which was pretty good. They did Schmeopardy as well, hosted by Mary as Alice Quebec - but she was wearing a mustache! Overall it was a good show, and when it was over we talked to Mary for a while and then headed out the back door for a few minutes until it was time to come back in. The 9:20 show featured Greg, Philip, Chris, Todd, & Mary. They started with the name rhyming contest, which is always fun. They did something I do not remember seeing before - they asked for 2 lines from the audience, and those became the first line and last line of a scene they created. The first was "Only give me 6 pieces of pizza because I can't eat 8" and the last was "Maim". In between, Greg was a supermodel in a pizza place who was recognized by Philip as a fan who adored him until he found out Greg was now doing Sears and Kmart clothing ads rather than high fashion. They did a good job with it, and both Greg & Philip are extremely talented and work well with each other. Greg had said earlier how tired he was, but while on stage nobody would have known. They also did a musical, titled "All Roads Lead to the Comedy Warehouse". This was very funny, with lots of jabs at Disney, including Greg as Al Weiss (president of WDW) and Mary as an elderly lady who's cardiac condition was cured by riding the Tower of Terror. She also took a minimum wage job at Epcot and worked selling cotton candy with some of her hair added as the secret ingredient...and sold the cotton candy for $12.95 each <g>. It got kind of weird, but it was funny! We had seen Josh come in during the show, and afterwards stopped to talk to him. He will be working this Wednesday, but that will be the last time before heading to Los Angeles for good. I do not know him as well as some of the others, but he seems really nice. He is having a garage sale Saturday - and said to come on by...and also "I don't have anything anyone would want to buy" except maybe the bike he was trying to sell Todd (Todd was there too). Greg came over to say goodnight since he was finished for the night and will not be in during the rest of my trip. Normally he would work Saturday night, but he said he's got some gig all day long - starting at 7:30 am. That would be a bit much to work from 7:30 am until the next day! I am glad he worked tonight at least. Nancy was waiting for us outside, and finally came inside and got us - so we went out to talk to her during the break and finalized plans for tomorrow. We will also be going to see Jim Roberts (keyboard player) and his wife AJ (she's the sax player in Frankie & the West End Boys) perform in Pt Charlotte in April, which should be fun. I'm sure they will enjoy having some familiar people there, as well. Nancy went back to work, and soon it was time for Leesa & I to head back inside to long row. Adie & Lisa - if you're keeping track, we *had to* do all 5 shows again tonight <g>. The 10:40 cast was Mary, Krista, Todd, Brian & Philip. The opening song was about a guy from Scotland (who answered the phone) and Philip rolled up his pants and wore the plaid kilt with his Hawaiian shirt, had some sort of Scottish-looking hat, and carried something to represent bagpipes. Todd simply made fun of the guy's accent, making nonsense noises, which kind of surprised me. I noticed several times tonight the newer actors said or did something that was not obscene or anything, but definitely not politically correct, and the veteran actors like Mary looked shocked at what they had heard. One example was Brian making an ethnic slur against Mexicans - directed towards Chris, who was wearing a sombrero. This show they did Story Time, conducted by Krista. The story was Alabama Fried Frogs, and it moved along pretty well. Mary died a dramatic death by Q Tip, and then Brian died by Barbie. Todd had to die by a Jimmy Buffett CD in a drink umbrella factory, and then Philip wrapped up the story using audience suggestions in a Fill In The Blank style. The 12:05 show featured Chris, Philip, Todd, Brian & Krista. By now all the drunks were out, and most of them seemed to be here. They did Emotions, and Brian had a hard time getting suggestions for both positive and negative emotions. People kept yelling the same things over and over again - horny, lust, horny, orgasmic, horny, etc. Then the audience started yelling (for emotions) constipated, molested (which Brian refused to take), and other bathroom/sex stuff. I could tell Krista was really irritated - she & Philip were writing them down and would be calling these styles to the 2 actors, and it was taking forever to get anything due to all the repeats of every variation on the word *horny*. Finally she cut Brian off and said they had to get started. Todd & Chris were the actors, and they did a really funny scene. Emotions is almost always very funny! They did Madrigal next, where 4 actors each have a tabloid headline and then they take turns mixing them all up. Finally, they did Actor's Nightmare, with Brian having the nightmare. In this game every actor but Brian has a script of a different play, and all of their dialogue comes from that play. It is Brian's job to make up his lines and make what the others are saying make sense. He ended up in a prison scene - kissing the warden (Philip) but also in love with Christine, and Krista was his lousy lawyer who finally got good and got him out of jail so he & Christine could go to Hawaii. They did a good job with it. We left after the show, and drove back to Leesa's. She went to read for a while and I wrote the report, but will wait to post it in the morning. I have some pictures to send to some people too, but that will wait as well. Overall it was a wonderful day - a great start to this very short trip! DAY 2 - SATURDAY, MARCH 2, 2002: Who: Sue (me - 43), DVC member Nancy (44), friend & PI cm (former Comedy Warehouse cm) Leesa (42), friend & Comedy Warehouse regular Plan: Check in OKWR, dinner & Comedy Warehouse w/Nancy & Leesa Actual: I did not wake up until after 8am - unheard of for me, but I must have been tired! I was as quiet as possible, hoping I wouldn't wake up Leesa, since I knew she was pretty tired after we got back here this morning. After a nice shower I got the trip report posted and caught up on my mail, made some mint hot chocolate and finished the Mara brownie, and then got ready to head to WDW. Leesa never woke up, so rather than disturb her sleep I just left her a note and let myself out. Once on the main road to the highway I saw a huge crowd of people walking, and sheriff deputies had blocked the road to all cars. I figured the road would only be blocked to let these people pass, and I could see the end of them - but the mob of people walked IN the road! I do not understand why they did not walk on the sidewalk and surrounding wide flat grassy area rather than down the middle of the freakin'' road where cars are supposed to be! Ugh - this was not some worthwhile cause type of walk - like a walk for Aids or cancer or something...this was all little league teams on their way to the ball fields. They strolled slowly down the road, and all we could do was follow them at about 2 mph, which was very frustrating! I stopped at an Eckerd's to get some batteries for my beeper, and could not find any cashiers or anyone to take my money. This morning was not going very well so far - finally I went back to the pharmacy and bought my batteries there (I was tempted to leave the $$ on the counter & just walk out, but risking arrest did not seem like a fun thing to do <g>). I arrived at OKWR around 10:30, and was greeted with a Welcome Home from the security guard, which went a long way towards erasing the nasty memories of my drive and shopping stop <g>. I stopped to chat with Angelo & the other guys at Bell Services, then went inside to check in. To my surprise, the studio was ready! I got building 50, but am at the end away from the main road, so there is no traffic noise at all. The buses do not pass this building either, so no squealing brakes. It is about as far away from the rest of the resort as you can get, but that is not a problem for me. I unpacked quickly and then walked to the bus stop just as a bus for MGM Studios was arriving. Since I had no specific plans, I got on the bus and headed to that park. Security was not too crowded, but I bypassed all of it by going to the completely empty lane that everyone was ignoring. The security cm standing there probably should have been calling people to use her lane as well, but it worked out great for me! Getting through the turnstiles was also pretty quick. The park was not terribly crowded, and although it was windy, the sun was trying to shine and it was a nice warm day - good park touring weather. I wandered around and ended up picking up a Fastpass for the Millionaire show for 12:20-12:30 (12:40 show). The Backlot Tour was about to go in, so I walked in there. The water tank effects show is different now, and uses 4 volunteers instead of just 2. The effects are still the same - dumping water on someone, water torpedoes, explosions, etc. It had been a long time since I did this attraction, and enjoyed it today. Afterwards I just walked around a lot, looked in the shops, and enjoyed some people watching from a sunny bench. The attractions had short waits, but there was not anything I wanted to do badly enough to wait even 10 minutes, so I just wandered around trying to decide whether to use my Millionaire Fastpass or just leave & walk to Epcot. I was on my way to Millionaire but changed course and picked up a pretzel on NY Street and then left the park. These pretzels turn out well in the microwave, so I ate some and can have the rest some other time in the studio. The boat to the resorts was already at the dock, and since I knew I would not make it down there in time I just took the walkway and walked on the Yacht Club/Beach Club side into Epcot. In Canada I ran into a woman from work - it felt very strange to see a *work* person during my WDW trip for some reason. We chatted briefly and then continued on our way. In Future World I checked the tip board, which said Spaceship Earth was "Delay" - most likely not operating temporarily. They also had signs here and at the entrance saying Test Track will be closed for refurbishment March 3-8. Spaceship Earth was really the only thing I had thought about doing, so I headed towards the exit. As I passed Spaceship Earth it opened up again, so I got in the short line and did the ride before leaving the park. The OKWR bus arrived within a couple of minutes of my arrival, and left immediately to take me back to the resort (sole passenger). Today I was very lucky with all of my waits being quite short! I was pretty tired but am not a nap person, so I just relaxed in the studio - using the time to update the report and look at the pictures taken last night to delete any not worth keeping. For such a short trip I plan to just leave the pictures on the memory stick and download them onto the desktop at home (bigger hard drive) rather than store them on the laptop. Around 4:15 I drove up to the main building and waited for Nancy & Leesa, who arrived right on time. We were seated in Olivia's right away, and had Domenic as our server. We purposely planned our lunch for 4:30 (it's served until 5pm) to take advantage of the lunch menu. Both Nancy & I ordered the special drink of the day, which was raspberry liqueur and some other stuff in a glass rimmed with sugar. Nancy loved it, and I liked it <g>. Leesa got a raspberry smoothie that was also very good. For food I got my usual tomato & mozzarella salad, which is excellent here. I love that they put walnuts in the field greens to set it apart from an ordinary salad. Nancy got the tomato & mozzarella salad and the prime rib sandwich, while Leesa got the buttermilk chicken breast meal. All of the food was excellent, and I think the check was $56 before the 20% DDE discount and the tip. Domenic was very friendly and attentive - our only problem was with the food coming out of the kitchen at the wrong times. My salad was ordered as my entree (I specifically mentioned that), yet it came out with Nancy's appetizer. Then, Nancy & Leesa's hot food came out not more than a couple of minutes later - so her sandwich got cold while she ate her salad. In retrospect we probably should have sent the hot food back when it came out too quickly, but we did not bother. Overall though, it was still a great meal - and a good time! We wandered around outside briefly, using Leesa's remote control to take a couple of pictures of the 3 of us, and then drove over to Downtown Disney. We parked at PI and got our wristbands, then stopped in the Dzerts store before going to Candy Cauldron for cotton candy for Leesa and some Mickey truffles for me. Soon it was time to return to PI, so we stood outside the Warehouse eating cotton candy while waiting to get in line. Kelly & Alan arrived just as we got in line, so we chatted with them. Jim Roberts was on the keys tonight - a nice surprise! The 7:10 show featured Krista, Jen Br, Chris, Philip & Joy. Joy & Philip did a Fill In The Blanks scene where he was an ice sculptor fired from his Arthur Anderson job. They did the Madrigal singers thing, with 4 tabloid headline songs - Minnie Mouse gives birth to bat boy, Ken Lay exonerated, Clone of Elvis found, & Hilary divorces Bill. It was pretty good, but the Madrigal last night had more creative song titles and was funnier. They did Up Your Alley next, and it kind of died. Krista was the host Savannah Georgia, which is one of her regular characters, but the topic was Bonnie Braid Dolls and they only had 2 actors (Chris & Jen Br) rather than 3. Jen got a few funny lines, but mostly it struggled and I was glad to see it finally end. They ended with a blues song about slow drivers, and they did a really good job with this - which really helped to have the show end on a good note! After the show we talked to Jim Roberts a bit, then headed out the back door. While we were out there waiting this guy came by and Nancy said "Hi Gordo". My head whipped around to see this Gordo guy....the one Krisi lusted after so unabashedly a year ago last November....hmmm, he IS pretty hot! I hear he's really nice, too :-) but so very young, lol! We went back in to long row, and for 8:15 the cast was Joy, Jen Br, Chris, Brian & Krista. They started with the name rhyme contest, which got the show off to a really good start. Next up was Emotions, with Chris & Krista in a scene about car repair - it was also very funny! Krista did her fast talking character hosting Schmeopardy, with Joy as Tonya (pronounced Tone ya) Deaf the telemarketer, Jen as a waiter at Chuck E Cheese & Brian as Skippy the paper boy. Brian in particular was hysterical, and the whole show was really great! At 9:20 the cast was Philip, Krista, Joy, Matt & Todd - it was great seeing Matt again! Most of this show was the Conducted Story, which tonight was titled The Rambunctious Rabbit. The story was cute, but the deaths are always the highlight. Philip was the first to die, which surprised us - but it was only due to Matt saying something so funny Philip burst out laughing and did not have a line ready when Joy moved the baton to him. He died in the bottom of a volcano. Next to die was Todd - who died by a silk kimono. Philip joined him as a guy coming in for a massage. What could have been a little slow ended up being very funny, thanks to Philip! Krista's death was by a straw. Philip joined her as an old man she was caring for - it got a little gross, but was hysterical. That left Matt as the winner, so he grabbed Joy to wrap it up with him as 2 people sharing a brain. They had to simultaneously make up the rest of the story - each saying the exact same words as the other. This has got to be very difficult, but they did it! We headed back out, and soon were joined by a party of 13 at the back door. They were a group from NY & NJ, consisting of people from Europe who volunteer for an agency based in NY who take people with developmental disabilities (mentally retarded mostly) on trips. They had a group of people who lived in group homes or whatever, and they flew down here for a week. The volunteers were very nice, and Nancy & I chatted with some of the clients - they were all excited to be in Florida on vacation & to have flown on a plane. One guy was having a hard time being at the back door though, because it has a sign on the door that says "exit only". He was able to read, and was very concerned that he should not be going in that door because it was exit only - so one of the volunteers was trying to reassure him that it was ok for this particular time. Sometimes people with a developmental disability take things very literally. When the door opened we all went in. The 10:40 show featured Brian, Matt, Chris, Todd & Jen Br. They did Song Cue - where the scene is interrupted to create 3 songs in a different style. Tonight it was Pink Floyd, country & opera. Usually this is really funny, but tonight it dragged a bit towards the end - and not being a fan of any of these music styles might have contributed to my assessment a little. They also did Cliché, where they torture an actor - and that was very good. Jeb Br was tortured, and had to guess Lord love an oriental duck. They did some clever clues, and she finally guessed it, even though she (& the rest of us) had no idea what it meant, lol! We left after this show, and stood around talking in the parking lot until the fireworks began - then got out of there. The crowds entering when we left were bigger than any I'd ever seen before - busloads of spring breakers were arriving, and it was a total zoo. I was amazed they would pay to get in for only 2 hours, but Nancy said that was very common. We were glad to be leaving! By the way - anyone planning to go to Pleasure Island on Wednesday March 6th - it is closed for a private party until 9pm, and unless they all leave at 9, it will be much more crowded than usual. A party of 3000 has the entire Island booked until then. Back in the studio I read my email and worked on a little of the report, figuring I would finish it up the next day. Except for that stupid little league march down the middle of the street this morning, it was a terrific day. It was so great that Nancy ended up with tonight off & the 3 of us were able to do dinner & comedy together :-) DAY 3 - SUNDAY, MARCH 3, 2002: Who: Sue (me - 43), DVC member Tom & Leanne, friends & DVC members Plan: MK, Comedy Warehouse Actual: The alarm went off at 7:00 am - argh! Oh well, I can sleep next weekend - today I have friends to meet! Leanne wanted to do the kiddie rides at MK before it got busy, so she left a message suggesting we meet inside the MK at 9am. I felt more awake after a shower, and enjoyed some cappuccino and biscotti for breakfast. While getting ready I was able to finish up the report and get it posted before heading to the bus stop by 8:30. I had to wait for a MK bus, and feared that they would already be there and my absence would be taken as a sign that I was not coming since I never called them this morning to confirm. When the bus stopped at Millers Road and I saw them get on, I was relieved! We were *all* late, thanks to waiting for Disney buses, lol. Security at the MK was a zoo - why is it always awful here yet not a problem anywhere else??? Anyway, we were in the park by 9:15 and headed to Fantasyland to begin our childless kiddie ride tour <g>. We walked right onto the Pooh ride, which is one of Leanne's favorites. People were waiting when we came out, otherwise we probably would have ridden again! We rode Snow White, then Peter Pan - all with little to no wait. Leanne knew better than to try to get Tom on Small World, which let me off the hook as well - we skipped that one entirely. We went back to Tomorrowland and I got a Fastpass for Space Mountain (10:30-11:30). Buzz Lightyear was next - Tom sat out while Leanne & I were in charge of killing all the aliens & robots we could (they were pretty safe...we stink at this <g>). By now it was just after 10, so we rode the TTA twice to kill time until 10:30. They went to listen to a middle school concert band on the stage while I rode Space Mountain - and I was back outside with them by 10:45! It was a fun ride, made even more fun by the other guests in the rocket with me - lots of screaming, but funny rather than obnoxious. We were finished with MK at this point - none of us had anything else we wanted to do, so Leanne suggested going to do Millionaire. LOL - my favorite attraction (not). Tom & Leanne had mentioned they wanted to see the Beach Club Villas units during this trip, and when we realized to get to MGM from MK we would have to subject ourselves to that horrible Ticket & Transportation Center, we decided to head to Boardwalk to see the units and then head to MGM from there. The bus arrived just after we did, and was going to make the 5 stops (Swan, Dolphin, YC, BC, BW) - we should have gotten off at the Swan but we forgot, so we got off at the Dolphin and walked over to BW from there. It is still faster than sitting on the bus, plus the DVC office is on the Swan end of the BW. Barb's daughter Jackie was working today, and another cm took us back to see the units. Tom & Leanne looked around, and then we walked back to the Swan, arriving just as the boat to MGM pulled in. The ride seems to go much faster when you're busy talking to someone <g> and it felt like we got there in no time at all. Security was a breeze - it might have added a few seconds to our arrival, if that much! The park did not seem terribly crowded, but when we got to Millionaire the Fastpass time was around 3:30, and the next standby show was 12:40 (it was now just after noon). There was no way any of us would be there late enough for the Fastpass, so Leanne suggested we go get lunch and then try standby for 12:40. They love the hotdogs at Backlot Express, so we headed over there - after stopping outside Muppetvision 3-D to see Miss Piggy in her red dress (she & Kermit were posing for pictures). Backlot Express was practically deserted. There was nothing I wanted here - each of the meals is far more than I would eat at one time, and I would rather get soup from Mara, so I sat with them while they ate (eating some of their fries) & then we headed back to Millionaire. The door was still open, and once inside we could see the theater was slightly more than 1/2 full - and after the show started it still was not full. I enjoyed watching Mary's preshow - that Regis dude had a part I it, too <g>. None of us made it to the hot seat, but we all ended up in the top 10 at different points (never the #1 spot). The questions seemed much harder today - even the 1000 point question in the first game - the contestant lost at that point. The 2nd guy got to 32,000 points with difficulty and then lost on the next question. After the show we were finished with MGM. We rode back to OKWR on the bus, then Leanne & I drove over to the Premium Outlets while Tom went back to their studio. We only went to the Character Premiere - which had lots of stuff but nothing either of us wanted to buy. As I was looking at some shirts, a man sidled up to me and offered to sell me some Comedy Warehouse tickets, using a sneaky voice. I looked up, and it was Dan from Ft Pierce, lol! Sue was over in the kids' section shopping. I chatted with him for a while and then continued browsing until Leanne was ready to leave. On the way back we stopped at Mara in AKL to get some soup. Today the soup of the day was some 3-bean gumbo thing, that I was not interested in even trying (don't like beans, don't like gumbo, so it did not sound like a winner to me....Kathy can convince me if I was wrong). I got the tomato bisque to go, and Leanne picked up some cheesecake & carrot cake for her & Tom. I dropped her off at their studio, then returned to my studio to check mail while enjoying my soup! It was absolutely delicious, and a little thicker than last time...also a bit spicier. I loved every drop, as usual :-) The weather forecast for tomorrow is nasty - cold & windy, with highs only in the low to mid 50's! Of course, I only have my Teva sandals - no shoes to wear. Oh well, at least it should not be too cold tonight - hopefully this will be my last cold day at WDW until next winter. I got the trip report updated, IM'd with Kathy for a while, and got pretty much caught up with the message board stuff before deciding to head to Downtown Disney to wander around for a while. As I was walking along the dark path next to the parking lot I heard someone say "hello Sue" and when I looked up & got closer (I'm not blind, but it sure seemed dark...or else I just wasn't paying attention) saw it was Philip from the Warehouse. I was surprised - not just that he knew my name, but that he spoke at all rather than just passing by in the dark. He is so wild & zany on stage it can be exhausting to watch him, yet offstage seems very calm & quiet - rarely coming out after the shows. Anyway, I was glad to know he would be working tonight, as he is one of my many favorites. At the Marketplace I browsed in my usual stores looking at the usual stuff and buying the usual nothing <g>. There is no reason for me to buy stuff every trip, but it's fun to look for anything new each time. Tonight I went into the Home store (forget the exact name) over near the Rainforest Cafe, and found toppers that would replace the lid on jar candles. I love Yankee Candles, and next trip will have to remember to get one of the Disney toppers - one had the symbols of the 4 parks, one was the castle, one had characters, and I think there was one that had something to do with Pooh. They had the Disney jar candles, and some smelled pretty good, but I would rather get a scent I love from Yankee...and I think the topper should fit their jars as well. Since I'm leaving tomorrow delivery to the resort was not an option, and no way did I feel like carrying something around. I later checked and found them in the World of Disney store - so I can stop there on a future trip. I went back to PI and was amused by the cm asking if I was at least 21 years old <g>. It was a nice warm evening, and the top of the Island was packed with people waiting for the band to start, but the line had not really started for the Warehouse. I talked with cm Susan for a while, and then stood back when the line started to form. Many who got in line got tossed out because they did not have a wrist band. PI now does a "sneak preview" from 7-9pm most nights, and although I think the sign says admission to the clubs is not included it seems many guests think everything is free during those hours. The reality is they have the band do their first set a little early, so people there for the preview get to watch the band on the West End Stage, do some shopping, play the carnival games, and buy some snack food. They cannot buy alcohol and cannot enter any of the clubs. I was seated against the wall in the row across from long row. Kelly was seating, so it was good to see him for the first time this trip. The show did not fill up, so I was able to move to the end of the bench row, which gave me a much better view (and a more comfortable seat). The 8:00 show featured Brian, Todd, Chris, Matt & Philip. Philip & Todd created a scene in the Emotions game, which was good. Most of the show was Up Your Alley, about human veterinary science. Todd played the host Jeremy Timberlake. Chris was Dr. Death, and HMO doctor who believes in treating patients as if they were animals - like not bothering to sterilize anything, skimping on pain killers, and skipping that "bedside manner crap" <g>. Brian was Dr. Izit Q, a blind doctor who works on patients who are so ugly their sighted doctors can't stand to look at them. Matt was wearing the cow suit and was John Barter, a resident who the other doctors forced to always dress & act like an animal. The introductions were really funny - but once that was done the humor really tapered off. The audience did not think of any funny questions, and I was unable to come up with any either. During Emotions the it was like pulling teeth for Matt to get people to suggest positive and negative emotions, so I ended up giving about 5 or 6 of them - since nobody was saying anything...but I was no help with Up Your Alley! I wonder if the introductions were so detailed the audience was unable to think of generic questions - it's like we got too much information up front - or maybe we just were not very creative, lol! After the show I went right outside figuring the line would be long. HAH! There not only was no line at all, the entire street was deserted - probably due to the wind and blowing RAIN.....ugh! It was kind of damp, and although the rain wasn't coming down hard, it was blowing every which way. I got my umbrella out & opened, but then had no hands free to put on my sweatshirt...so I stood there shivering holding it over one arm as I held my drink and tried to steady the umbrella in the wind. Thank goodness it was just a short break between shows! The benefit to the rain was obvious - no line ahead of me, so I was able to count & get in line to be seated right in long row where I wanted to be. The 9:05 cast was Todd, Brian, Chris, Philip, & Jake - first time seeing Jake work this trip! This show was excellent - pretty much everyone and everything they did was really good. They opened with a poem, and then did Song Cue. Philip & Christine created a scene as a married couple on a cruise ship (Philip works there, Chris was a passenger), but it was a gay cruise and Chris knew hubby worked on a ship but not that it was for gay people. They were interrupted 3 times to create songs in the style of country, jazz, and hip hop. As the story unfolded, we learned they had been married 7 years but never consummated the marriage - and recently Chris had fallen in love with someone else...Philip's father! Todd & Brian were flitting around the stage a pair of gay passengers, trying to flirt with Philip, who later we found out had engaged in an encounter with them....which he claimed was not cheating since it was not heterosexual. My description does not do them justice - the whole scene was hysterical. Next they did Cliché, and tortured Brian with the phrase "The banjo player's Porsche ran over your honor student." Todd led the torture, and actually did a really good job - in fact, tonight was his best performance that I can remember. The clues were all creative & funny, and Brian had a really hard time with parts of it, which just made it even funnier! It was absolutely great - one of the best, with everything just working together really well. I left right after this show, and since it was still raining I took shelter in the Adventurer's Club. Downstairs Pamela Perkins was teasing a handsome guy who happened to be there with 4 women - lots of jokes about his manliness being able to handle all those women, and if he had her (Pamelia) he would not be able to handle anyone else after her <g>. A lady & her 2 kids walked through the room and Pamelia called out that it was so nice the young girls (8-10 years old) were here to learn all about polygamy, then had the women with this man come up to tell their favorite & least favorite thing about this guy. It was getting close to CW time, so I missed the rest of the fun here. Thanks to the rain again, the line formed late so I was able to get myself positioned for long row. When I got inside, Dave (a regular) was already there in long row - I was seated 4 seats down from him. I put my stuff down and went to talk to him, and the 4 people very nicely shifted over so I could move to the seat next to him. We passed the time before the show talking & catching up on things. The 10:30 show featured Jake, Matt, Brian, Todd, & Joy. Pretty much the whole show was the Conducted Story, conducted by Matt. He was crazy...some woman was looking for a ring she lost on the floor, and he stopped the show & had people help look for it - Jake came out with flashlights even, lol! He started ragging on a guy up front who did not follow instructions - Matt asked for a suggestion from someone in the back, and this guy gave a suggestion but he was not supposed to because he was down front. Matt yelled at him to go to the back if he wants to say something, and was pounding his light sword thing on the stage for emphasis - just joking with the guy. The story was titled Fancy That She Got It Back. It took place in a bowling alley following a prom, where people bowl wearing just underwear. The girl was embarrassed because she had acne on her butt so her date gave her his boxer shorts and he wore her thong. There were jokes about the size of his bowling balls, and at one point he decided to break up with her and took his boxers back. The thong snapped off when he tried to remove it, and it flew through the air and got caught on the ceiling fan, leaving his poor date with the acne butt exposed to everyone - but eventually fancy that she got it back :-) Brian was first to die, and died by a Frito in 1969. Todd died by a toupee, and Joy died a musical death by camera at WDW. They did a great job with both the story and the deaths. The show flew by, unfortunately, my last show for this trip. I said goodnight to Dave, chatted briefly with Matt, then left PI for the short drive back to OKWR. For some reason I was not tired at all - so I finished up the report, posted it, and flew through my email. Since the Fortress board moved to an email format, between that and my regular mail I've had close to 100 new messages each time I check mail...and that's about 3 times a day or so. Thank goodness it's just fun reading, and not 100 messages needing a reply! It was a great day, even with the rain tonight. I did everything on the plan (both things, lol). It was especially nice spending the day with Tom & Leanne. Tom & I knew each other through work for the past 14 years, but now that he no longer works for the agency I work for, we don't get to stay in touch during the work day <g>. Hmmm, why is it people who no longer work there look to relaxed & happy??? <g> DAY 4 - MONDAY, MARCH 4, 2002: Who: Sue (me - 43), DVC member Tom & Leanne, friends & DVC members Plan: AK, Epcot, drive home Actual: Today I was due to meet Tom & Leanne at Animal Kingdom at 9, so it was another early morning! The weather forecast is cold & miserable, but perhaps that will keep the crowds down somewhat. I got ready and fixed my last cappuccino/biscotti breakfast, and read some of the posts downloaded when I got home earlier this morning. It was funny to see the parking lot fill up yesterday, after having been almost empty on Saturday. The cm checking me in on Saturday said they had been almost full the night before, but evidently more drivers arrived yesterday. I was thrilled that whoever was in the connecting 1br unit was very quiet - I never heard any noise from over there at all :-) Around 8:30 I left to go pick up Tom & Leanne, and we drove over to Animal Kingdom. The crowds were very light - security was a breeze, and we pretty much walked right up to the turnstile, entering the park by 9am. We walked back to Harambe and picked up Fastpasses for the Kilamanjaro Safari (9:45) before heading onto the Pangani Trail. It's possible we were the first ones through this morning, as I don't recall coming across any other guests as we quickly walked to the gorilla section. It was so cold I was afraid they would not be out, and a cm did say the family was staying indoors a bit longer due to the cold. Gus was not in his cave, but I spotted him at the other end. He was very active and seemed to be having a good day - the cm there said he was acting really happy today. He moved around munching on different treats, and looked at us for a little while before heading back behind the brush where he was not visible. At one point he had his back towards us and would look over his shoulder - perhaps wondering where I was hiding Kathy??? If she was there, he would have stayed put for sure - but I did get some pictures of him before he grew tired of us. By then the family was out, and I got some great pictures of Gino (the dad). Tom & Leanne stayed on the trail with me for about 1/2 hour, until it was time for our safari. The safari was very good, thanks to a terrific driver/guide from Tennessee who spoke very clearly and was full of information about the animals we were seeing. We saw just about everything except the zebras and lions. When we got off there we paused to catch the end of show some acrobats were doing in Harambe - lots of tumbling. We walked over to Dinoland and walked right on Dinosaur - the standby time was posted as "0" minutes - gotta love that! We were in the back row, which is a little rougher, but it was a fun ride. Afterwards I looked at what I could see of the new little coaster called Primeval Whirl, but most of it was blocked by the construction fence. This whole area seems so garish & tacky....not very Disney-like, but I guess that must be the theme they are trying to achieve (for whatever reason). By now it was only 10:45 and the only other thing we planned to was the Tarzan show. Yesterday Leanne had asked if I thought it was a worthwhile thing to do, and when I mentioned muscular young man wearing *only* a loin cloth performing athletic feats for our viewing pleasure, she immediately decided they would be seeing it. There is some Jane chick for Tom to watch, but she's secondary <g>. The first show was not until 11:30, so we went to Asia and did the Maharajah Jungle Trek to see the tigers. Only 2 were out, and none of the bats were out. They had a cm standing in the bat room saying "no bats today, too cold". We walked back to the Tarzan Rocks show and got seats in the front row of the upper section. I like the music from the movie, but this show really does not thrill me at all. The skating monkeys are great, and of course there's the loincloth clad hunk to make it interesting, but both of those parts are too brief. I did see several guests leaving early - after the skating and Tarzan parts. We stayed until the end, and exited with the mob. It was noon by now so we went back to Harambe to have lunch at Tusker House. None of us had ever eaten more than one meal anywhere inside AK since we are never in this park long enough to encounter a meal time. Having heard good things about Tusker House, it was an obvious choice. I got the chicken salad in a bread bowl ($7.29). It was tasty, but extremely small for that price. The bread bowl was more like a large sandwich bun, made of sourdough, and it was crusty on the outside but very soft in the inside like it should be. Tom & Leanne each got the rotisserie chicken dinner ($7.99) with mashed potatoes and green beans. We had to wait for a table - since it was so cold nobody was eating outdoors and the indoor tables went quickly. The food was all good - but I don't see myself returning there in the future...too many other places/things I like better, and if I'm that close to AKL I might as well go there and get some soup! We walked out of the park together, and they headed back to OKWR while I began the drive home. Other than spending the last hour of the drive on a conference call, the drive was routine - I was home by 4pm to finish the report & get it posted. Today was another great day, thanks to the company of Tom & Leanne :-) The weather was awful....it seemed to get colder as the day progressed, but at least it was not raining or too windy. My feet were almost numb by the time Tarzan ended, thanks to only packing sandals for this trip <g>. It took me until almost Tampa to feel like they were thawed out, lol! Epcot was on the original plan, but that was before I knew Tom & Leanne were going to be there. Had I been alone, I probably would have gone to see Gus then head to Epcot for lunch at Le Cellier - but that can wait until April. SUMMARY: Despite less than ideal weather, this was a fantastic trip! So many things just happened out of the blue to make it special, from George & Patti making the trip possible in the first place, Nancy having a rare Saturday off so she & Leesa & I could do dinner & comedy together, and Tom & Leanne booking trip during the same time. Finding Gus out and in a happy mood, getting to enjoy 3 nights of fun at the Comedy Warehouse, finding the parks far less crowded than on recent trips, getting a wonderfully quiet studio (location as well as neighbors) - the trip was pretty close to perfection :-) Thanks again George & Patti for making it possible! My next trip will begin March 22nd, with a night at the Comedy Warehouse followed by a week at Hilton Head with our friends Sheila & Colin. We are keeping our fingers crossed that this will be our first HHI trip without record breaking cold weather <g> (I'll bet Wilbur is hoping for the same thing)! Until then, thanks for reading. Sue Holland wdw1972@aol.com Mail a Comment to Sue Holland |
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